38th Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology

August 7-11, 2005  Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A
   

Morphological, molecular, and genomic characterization of two mosquito Cypoviruses

Terry B. Green 1, Alexandra Sharpio 1, Susan White 1, Shujing Rao 2, Peter Mertens 2, Gerry Carner 3, and James J. Becnel 1
1USDA/ARS, Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, 1600-1700 S.W. 23rd Drive, Gainesville, FL 32608,
2Pirbright Laboratory, Institute for Animal Health, Ash Road Pirbright, Woking, Surrey, GU24 0ET, UK,
3Clemson University, 114 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29634-0315

The morphological, genomic, and molecular characteristics of two cypoviruses (cyptoplasmic polyhedrosis virus, CPV) from the mosquitoes Culex restuans (CrCPV) and Uranotaenia sapphirina (UsCPV) are examined in this report. CrCPV is characterized by large, irregularly shaped inclusion bodies that are multiply embedded. This differs from UsCPV, which typically has a single virion per inclusion body and a regular cuboidal or spherical shaped inclusion body. The transmission rate for both Cypoviruses was enhanced by the presence of magnesium ions but was inhibited by calcium ions. Transmission studies have also shown that each of these Cypoviruses infect multiple mosquito species. CrCPV and UsCPV are the only two Cypoviruses from mosquitoes that have been confirmed by using molecular analysis. Both Cypoviruses have a 10 segmented genome that is quite different from the lepidopteran cypoviruses TnCPV-15 (Trichoplusia ni) and BmCPV-1 (Bombyx mori). In addition, nucleotide and amino acid analysis of segment 10 (polyhedrin) suggest that both cypoviruses are closely related to one another but unrelated to the sixteen remaining CPVs from lepidopterian hosts.

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